Abney Associates FTC cracks down on tech support scam run from India

Phone con attempted to convince people that their computers had a virus and then sign them up to multi-year contracts The US Federal Trade Commission has carried out a huge international crackdown on a number of "tech support" scams being run out of India which have conned people in the UK, US, Canada and elsewhere out of millions of pounds since 2008. As explained by the Guardian in 2010, the scams used "boiler room" tactics, dialling through phone books for English-speaking countries. People who answered the phone were told the call came from Microsoft or their internet service provider, and that the person's computer was "reporting viruses". The caller would then perform an unnecessary "fix" on the computer and charge the person for it – and sometimes sign them up to multi-year "support" contracts. The cost could run to hundreds of pounds. People in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were targeted because they, like the people carrying out the scam, are English-speaking. The Guardian understands that the scam was worth millions of pounds a year to the organised gangs carrying it out. At the FTC's request in six cases, a federal district judge froze the US assets of 17 people and 14 companies that have been accused of taking part in the operations. The FTC has also shut down 80 internet domain names and 130 phone numbers used in the US to carry out the scams. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/04/ftc-cracks-down-tech-support-scam The FTC is seeking an end to the scams, and repayments for people who were conned You might want to know about: http://www.studentawards.com/Forum.aspx?g=posts&m=228300 http://www.zimbio.com/Abney+Associates/articles/qN6DuTTIpQA/Reviews+Abney+Associates+Code+85258081704